Here's the bad news: Search engine Inktomi recently surveyed
the Web and counted a mind-numbing 1 billion Web pages. Wow. Just a
decade ago, the Web didn't exist. And even five years ago, it
was just a playpen for supernerds. No more. Now every business
needs a Web site-but just because you build it doesn't mean a
soul will ever visit. "Putting up a Web site can be like
opening a store in a back alley," says Jim Datovech, president
of Gaithersburg, Maryland-based IT consulting firm Operon Partners.
"You've got to work to win visitors."

What's more, traditional marketing campaigns don't
necessarily produce results for Web sites, warns Mark DiMassimo,
president and creative director of DiMassimo Brand Advertising, a
New York City-based agency that handles many dotcom clients. A case
in point: "Generally, television advertising for dotcoms has
been very ineffective," says DiMassimo, whose agency surveyed
consumers and discovered that only 6 percent of heavy Web users
said they had ever visited a site due to a TV ad.

"Put your dollars where your customers will be," urges
DiMassimo. Seem basic? Not to the dotcom companies that plunked
down tens of millions of dollars to buy Super Bowl ads.
"Having money is no excuse for spending like a drunken
sailor," says DiMassimo, who adds that the critical test
always has to be, Will my potential customers see the material?

Baiting Your Hook

What works in luring visitors to a site? Although heavily funded
Internet companies can make seven- and eight-figure deals to buy
prime advertising real estate on major Internet portals and online
services like Yahoo! and AOL, you're likely priced out of that
race. So winning visitors becomes a matter of creative, persistent
marketing. The good news is that it's still the little things
that will bring plenty of traffic your way.

For instance? "Always put your URL on letterhead, business
cards, in e-mail signatures-wherever potential visitors are likely
to see it," says Datovech.

Another low-cost traffic builder: "Get active in online
discussion groups and chats, and, where appropriate, always give
out your URL," says Shannon Kinnard, author of Marketing With E-mail: A Spam-Free Guide
(Maximum Press). Sell bird toys? Scout out the many groups that
focus on birds-a good place to find them is at Deja.com, a site that
archives discussion lists-and get active. That will spread the word
about you and your site.

Posting items for sale on major auction sites such as
Amazon.com, eBay and Yahoo! is another big-time traffic builder for
any Web site that retails. Those sites let you identify yourself to
viewers, and a few dollars spent on putting out merchandise for bid
might just bring in lots of traffic from surfers seeking more
information.

Classified ads offer more possibilities for traffic generation
on the cheap. Check out both Excite and Yahoo!. Classifieds are
free there, and viewership is high.

When it comes to off-line advertising, expert opinion is mixed.
Some pros advocate big spends on traditional media, while others
tell you to fish where the fish are, which means advertising online
to promote an online store. One idea is to incorporate your URL
prominently into offline advertising for offline products or
services, but not to launch an offline campaign for an online-only
property. When money is tight, go where you know you'll find
surfers.

A Direct Approach

For many businesses, using good ol' e-mail may be the
surest-and is certainly the cheapest-way to build traffic to their
sites. "E-mail still gets results," says Hans Peter
Brondmo, chair of PostCommunications.com, a San Francisco-based
e-mail marketing firm that numbers Palm Computing, Victoria's
Secret and Wells Fargo among its clients.

One key to making e-mail effective: Use "opt-in"
sign-ups, where Web site visitors are asked to indicate whether
they want to receive e-mail from you. How to get sign-ups?
"Offer a free monthly newsletter," says Kinnard.
"The key is to give really good information."

Effective newsletters usually mix news about trends in your
field with tips and updates on sales or special pricing. Another
key: Include hyperlinks so interested readers can, with a single
mouse click, go directly to your site and find out more about
specific topics of interest.

Once your marketing efforts start attracting surfers, and then
customers, to your new business, you'll need to find out
exactly who's buying your products or services. Getting to know
your market will help you chart the direction of your new dotcom
business.

Know Thy Customer

If there's a first commandment of doing business, that's
it. Knowing customers is easy in a brick-and-mortar store. Talk to
them, size up their clothing, hear how they form sentences. A
traditional storefront owner knows a lot about who's stopping
in, but how do companies on the Web know their customers when all
they amount to are wispy cybervisitors?

The good news: Every Web site visitor leaves a trail that, when
properly analyzed, will tell you the country of origin, browser and
platform used (such as Windows 98), Internet service provider and
more. This data is collected by Web hosting services in a
"Log" file, but only hard-core techies could ever have
the patience to scroll through a log, because it contains a
mind-numbing avalanche of details. Your Web hosting service
probably provides-free of charge-a basic analysis of those logs. If
so, the company will run the log through interpretive software and
tuck the output in a folder that's usually called
"Stats."

Better analysis is easy to come by using third-party software
tools designed to dissect log reports and automatically produce
spiffy, usable reports that will tell you not only which countries
are producing visitors but also those visitors' ISPs and more.
Top choices among analysis tools include:

WebTrends Log Analyzer: This program offers a cool tool
set, including a "geographical profiling" tool that
allows for tracking visitors' specific cities of origin. Get a
trial download from www.webtrends.com. Cost: $399 (all prices
street).

HitList Professional: You can get some 40 types of
reports in a few mouse clicks. It's a full-featured, fast and
easy-to-use tool. Get a trial version at www.marketwave.com. Cost: $395.

Before deciding to buy, ask yourself whether you really need the
level of analysis being offered. Many low-traffic sites don't,
and, for them, the free files provided by their servers may be
sufficient. When traffic increases to more than 100 visitors per
day, you probably need more fine-tuned analysis, and it's time
to buy a more sophisticated tool-but not before then.

Getting to Know You

Logs provide a step toward knowing your customer, but more can
be done:

Survey says: In this morning's e-mail, I got a
discount coupon from Amazon . . . with a string attached. If I
answered a half-dozen multiple-choice questions, I would earn a $15
credit good on any electronics item sold by the company. Through
highly specific questions about competitors and Amazon's own
product offerings, prices and service, Amazon picks up valuable
insight into the thinking of customers and competition. Why
aren't you doing likewise?

Don't wait to put a survey on your site-do it as soon as
your site is up and running. Keep it short and offer a tangible
reward. Choose, say, 10 or 100 customers. Then-and this is
crucial-read every answer that comes in. If you want to find ways
to run your business better, look at it the way customers do.

Mail time: Read and respond to as much customer e-mail as
possible, because it too opens a real window on customers and their
motivations. Sure, for every customer who has good things to say
about you, nine will write with complaints, but read it, absorb it
and stay alert to trends. If one person complains about your
packaging materials, it's no big deal. If 10 do and you only
sent out 12 orders last week, you have a problem-but the great
thing is that now you also have the opportunity to fix it.

Private Eyes

Keeping Customer Information Private

Now that you're excited about gathering information on your
customers, know this: It all has to be done gently, respectfully
and cautiously. Web site snooping is a very sensitive topic these
days-and odds are, sensitivities will only increase as more users
realize exactly how detailed a trail they leave behind when
visiting Web sites.

But there is a remedy, one that lets you gather the information
you need while also reassuring visitors. It's simple: Develop a
privacy policy, and post it on your site. Be clear, simple and
direct. A good strategy is to say: "We never sell information
that we collect about you to anybody." And if you offer
visitors free sign-up to e-mail newsletters or sales notices, be
quick to remove anybody who asks to be taken off your list of
recipients-preferably on the very day you receive the request.

In You They'll Trust

In an era when "knowing thy customer" is seen as the
path to riches, it's hard to resist collecting the vast stores
of customer data that tumble into your lap when you create a Web
site. Know where a visitor has been before-what sites he or she has
visited earlier in the same Inter-net session, for instance-and an
alert marketer can use that insight into the surfer's interests
to tweak the site's offerings so they more closely match what
the surfer wants.

For dotcom entrepreneurs, that means don't screw up, and
you'll gain visitors' trust. And once they trust you, they
will buy from you.

Bowled Over

Turned on by pink, retro bowling shirts? How about bowling
jackets and T-shirts? In 1998, Tucson, Arizona, entrepreneur Gary
Forrester, 47, thought there were enough bowling fanatics out there
to make a success of Bowling Connection, where almost everything a
bowler craves is on sale. So far, he's been proved right.

Entrepreneur: How do you promote the site?

Gary Forrester: There's a helpful site called
Selfpromotion.com that makes it easy to list your site
with all the search engines. We also promoted Bowling Connection by
passing out fliers at bowling tournaments.

Another way we promote on an ongoing basis is by putting items
up for auction on eBay. It's not only another source of income,
it also drives people right to your Web site to order more of your
products. And it's only 25 cents to list each item. This has
probably been the most cost-effective advertising I've ever
seen.

Super Mom

It's amazing, the opportunities that still exist on the Web.
Ask Maria Bailey, 36. A onetime marketing executive with AutoNation
USA, she launched BlueSuitMom.com in Pompano Beach, Florida, on
Mother's Day 2000 with the aim of meeting the needs of
executive working moms. Her take on the Net was that there were
sites geared for working moms in general but none aimed
specifically at executives who also happen to be moms. So she
decided to build one. BlueSuitMom.com offers opportunities for
networking, news geared for executive moms and tips on topics such
as time management.

Entrepreneur: How do you promote the business?

Maria Bailey: We promote our business mainly by creating
strategic partnerships. For instance, we have a partnership with
Stork Avenue, the largest retailer of birth announcements. They
were willing to put our logo on 15 million catalogs in exchange for
driving traffic to their site. We also rely on the strong
word-of-mouth network moms and businesswomen create, and networking
within women's professional organizations, human resources
departments and parenting organizations. In addition, we sponsor
events such as parenting conferences, and distribute our content to
other Web sites to build brand recognition. We've been very
lucky in creating great press.

What unique advantages do you have vis-Ã -vis other Web
sites?

We felt the best advantage we could have was to be the first to
market-and we were. Being the first site aimed at executive working
mothers has allowed us to create all the great press we've
received.

What's been your biggest surprise in building this
business and your biggest disappointment?

The biggest surprise has been how quickly the site and idea have
grown. The response we've gotten from other Internet companies,
offline retailers, marketers and associations has been
overwhelming. We can't keep up with the people who want to do
business with us.

The biggest disappointment, or the biggest surprise I didn't
anticipate, was I never thought raising money would take so much
time out of each day. It's a constant "chicken or the
egg" game when you're juggling raising money, hiring good
talent and getting the product to market.